Barrow Journal

Don Holliday has stepped out of the controversy surrounding his re-appointment to the Barrow County Airport Authority by withdrawing his name as the District 4 appointee.

He did so in a Feb. 2 letter to Barrow County Commissioner Ben Hendrix, who appointed Holliday to the authority in late 2009 and requested his re-appointment in January. That request was vetoed by commission chairman Danny Yearwood after four of the six commissioners voted to approve Holliday’s re-appointment.

In the controversy that followed, the chairman’s veto power came under sharp scrutiny. When asked by state Rep. Terry England, legal council for the Georgia General Assembly offered the opinion that the chairman does not have the power to veto appointments to the airport authority. County attorney Angela Davis maintains he does.

If the controversy is not resolved, the commission could ask the State Attorney General for a ruling. Another option some commissioners are evaluating is taking to the state legislature a request for to amend the county charter in order to limit or remove the chairman's veto power. [Full Story »] 

In an attempt to help two major airport tenants “weather the (economic) storm,” the Barrow County Airport Authority renegotiated lease terms and rent amounts for 30-year tenant Romanair and Barrow Service Company/GA Avionics, a 9-year tenant.

Romanair will pay approximately $1,000 per month more than the company’s previous 30-year lease required. Previous attempts to renegotiate that lease failed due to the discrepancy between the approximate $2,200 per month Romanair owner/operator Rob Mancini said he could afford to pay for the 16,000 square foot building and 7-acres of land he leases and the $11,490 per month authority chairman Frank Nocera initially requested.

Under the terms of the new five year agreement, Romanair will pay $1,500 per month building rent, 10-cents per gallon on fuel sales, $2,000 to continue to rent the authority’s “fuel farm” (pumping station) and 25 percent of the (airplane) tie-down fees they collect. [Full Story »] 

The Barrow County Airport Authority met for one hour behind closed doors Tuesday night in what appeared to be an illegal meeting to discuss public business.

In closing the meeting, authority attorney John Stell told a reporter that it was to for “pending litigation.” When asked what he meant, Stell said it was to discuss a “potential eviction,” a topic that is not allowed by Georgia’s Open Meetings Act to be discussed behind closed doors.

After the meeting, Stell changed his reason for the closed doors by saying it was to discuss an old consent decree, another topic that would not be allowed by Georgia law. [Full Story »] 

A dispute over a proposed raise in rent led to a shouting match between Barrow County Airport Authority chairman Frank Nocera and the owner of a flight school Monday night. [Full Story »] 

While the Barrow County Airport Authority is reportedly asking one airport tenant to pay $9,000 more per month to keep his lease, members of the authority agreed to grant another tenant a lease discount at the authority’s Sept. 21 meeting. [Full Story »]